the ISLAND *
The “official” webpage points out the grand hundred-year-old fountain. It tells us that the original design for the island was drawn by the same person who designed Central Park in New York. It has the oldest public aquarium in the country, a recently restored botanical conservatory, a maritime museum, and the only marble lighthouse in the US. For decades, many good photographs have been taken of these attractions, but that’s not why I come here.
I’m here for the solace found in the quiet spots—the ones not highlighted on the map.
*Belle Isle State Park, Detroit Michigan
Click on image to enlarge ↓
Within a day of my father dying, my daughter's birth, my divorce, I've driven the circle around the island. For me, crossing the bridge is transcendent (which the Catholics define as truth, goodness, and beauty). I am able to ignore my past transgressions or contemplation of future worries and focus of what is present, reflections in water, the sun striking the willows, an awareness of nature consuming my attention, allowing my “ earthly” concerns to vanish.